10 Ways to Show You're Shopping on a Fake Website
The internet has made the retail industry a lot more efficient. Although it's easier than ever to buy pieces from your favorite brands, there are also some downsides to e-commerce. Many shady websites have sprung up to sell counterfeit goods, hoping to take advantage of the success of brands such as Balmain, Givenchy, or Abercrombie & Fitch. It's like New York's Canal Street online, with its gritty products and a lot of products that only clueless tourists would consider buying. Avoid being that guy and avoid buying from a fake site. These 10 Signs You're Shopping on a Fake Site will help you avoid getting scammed.
10. Verify the URL
Looking to cop from such illustrious outlets like "givenchy-gear-for-less.com" or "supreme-limitedproducts.com?" You might be wrong. Many brands offer ecommerce from trusted websites that have simple URLs. Verified stores may also use easy URLs. You can also check the browser's favicon. It is the little icon that appears to the left of your URL. Does it look legitimate?
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9. Do you think it looks bad?
You would expect a brand or designer to adhere to the same standards as their products if you are a fan. Are you sure that a brand with a great reputation will sell their products on an ecommerce platform that is as sophisticated as a Geocities site? Many brands and stores know that ecommerce execution is just as important as retail displays. They spend a lot of money on designing their websites to reflect their brand's cachet. In the same vein, make sure to check for typos, spelling errors, and grammar mistakes. Supreme probably isn't writing "thirts for Sael" on their website.
8. Check out their refund policy to determine if it is clear
100% satisfaction guaranteed huh? Yeah right. It will not have a clear refund policy. Although legitimate stores will offer exchanges and refunds within 30 days, or sometimes not at all if they are total G's, many counterfeit websites will claim that they offer some kind of return policy but then go silent when you actually use it. It's not worth doing business with a company that claims it will refund your money if your product is not received within a month.
7. Look to see if the company offers designs that aren't available elsewhere
Did you know that Givenchy sells its most loved T-shirts in a range of colors? Did you know? They don't. SSENSE and Givenchy shops offer a complete range of products, so that you can see the actual runway collection. It's not possible to look up designer collections by looking at runway photos or lookbooks. This is a quick way to determine if a shop is legitimate.
6. Check out the brand selection
Is a site's brand name more like a mix of well-known names? What was the last time that you saw Angry Birds Tshirts in retail space alongside Balmain jeans or Crooks &Castles? It's unlikely. It's not about curating an experience for the discerning buyer, but confusing people with counterfeit products.
5. Do you feel that there is a language barrier?
Many sites offer language options, especially if you are looking at sites that cater to Asian and European markets. But they don't have the same language barrier as fake sites. Remember the huge mess Abercrombie & Fitch were in when a poor translation program on a bootleg website put a racial epithet within the name of a colour? The product copy is straight out of Engrish.com. Alarming things should be done if the brand speaks more about its strength than the product.
4. Check to see if the contact information is shady
Whoa! The customer service email is for Hotmail accounts. Is the customer service number international? Please check. This website is not legitimate.
3. Look out for unusual items
This store has an exclusive item that sells out in minutes! It's even cheap! It's possible to believe that it sounds too good to be true. You will need to spend a lot of money on aftermarket sites such as eBay and forums if you want limited-edition products like Supreme x North Face collaborations.
2. The prices are too good to be real
Designer gear is still expensive, even when it goes on sale. Still $100, 80% off $500 If clothing you already know sells for a lot of money and suddenly drops to Old Navy prices, it's likely that something is up. Websites are generally more expensive than in-store purchases because they remove unwanted items from brick-and-mortar stores to make way for newer products. Before you click that virtual button, take this into consideration.
1. Check out WHOIS
The most obvious sign that a fake site exists is to go to WHOIS.net and enter the URL. The account will then display an e-mail address and the location of the site. Do the administrative and technical contacts match? Is it clear that there is an entire team of professionals dedicated to protecting the brand's online space? It's unlikely that it is legitimate if it's located in a remote part of China, or somewhere completely different from where the brand is located.
